


Human Shield

by Lakritzwolf



Series: Whumptober 2019 [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Human Shields
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 10:43:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20993498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lakritzwolf/pseuds/Lakritzwolf
Summary: Written for Whumptober 2019Day 4: Human Shield





	Human Shield

**Author's Note:**

> additional warning: The human shield are warlock children.

“Will we ever get rid of the Circle?” Andrew asked as he was gearing up.

“I don’t know,” Isabelle gave back, shaking her head with a frown.

The truth was, nobody knew just how many Valentine had recruited during all those years, and if there were some left who were fanatic and charismatic enough to become another Valentine, and produce a second uprising. 

“And why do they keep showing up in New York?” Having finished buckling his thigh holster, Andrew took his blade and twirled it around his wrist.

“Revenge, probably,” Isabelle replied. “After what happened, New York has to be pretty high on their hit list.”

Andrew didn’t know what to reply because she was most likely right, so he followed her into the Ops centre. They were two teams of seven, plus one warlock each, and Isabelle went through the plan again. There had been several sightings, but all in short distance from each other close to the docks, so the warlocks had a location to portal the teams in. A couple of Maia’s werewolves would be waiting there for them who would help with the tracking, and hopefully, they would be able to flush them out. 

After memorising the scent of the Shadowhunters who would accompany them the werewolves began looking for tracks, and soon the two teams were on the hunt. 

The tracks led Andrew’s team to the boarded-up back entrance of an old, derelict warehouse. Lorenzo’s magic made short work of the lock and the ramshackle door, and with seraph blades drawn and magic at the ready, they entered the murky darkness of the ground floor storage hall. 

There was a walkway along the walls further up, and that’s where the guards were stationed. They had come really close without being noticed though, and Lorenzo’s magic took out the first guard who fell over the railing with a scream that was cut off very abruptly and very finally as he landed in a stack of crates. Andrew had three throwing knives at his belt but couldn’t get a clear line of sight yet, so he sprinted up the stairs after the others. 

Close combat on the narrow walkway was even more dangerous due to low railing, and one man of Andrew’s team ended up sharing the Circle member’s fate, tumbling down a whole storey to land on the concrete floor. 

One of the Circle members now opened a metal door behind him, and the others quickly fell back, while Andrew’s team couldn’t close in on them due to the narrow walkway. The door fell shut the moment they reached it, and this time it was Clary who unlocked the door with a rune so Lorenzo could save up his magic. 

They could only run two abreast down the corridor, and they heard the cursing and yelling further down. Several lamps were broken, and the pale light of the ones that were still burning left an irregular, flickering light with dark stretches between them. 

Another door, another storage hall. And a group of Circle members. But they also had a group of warlock children with them, six of them in all, pressed against them, seraph blades pointing at their throats. 

“Not one step further,” one of them said, clutching the warlock girl he was holding even tighter. “Or your precious little Downworld babies are all toast.”

One of the children started crying, but was silenced by a snarl. The oldest of the children was maybe ten, and obviously just about old enough to cast a portal. Holding on to the children the Circle members cautiously backed towards it, while Andrew’s team watched in helpless frustration as they vanished, one by one, each clutching a terrified warlock child. 

The portal snapped shut, and after a second Lorenzo unfroze and shot a bolt of magic at a stack of wooden pallets with a growl of fury, turning them into a small pile of dust. The rest of them stared at the empty spot before them in grim silence.

It was the werewolf who managed to tear himself out of it first, and he trotted over to the place where the portal had been, sniffing around in circles. Then he suddenly stopped, and turned human again. He picked up something small and straightened up, and hastily walked up to Lorenzo.

“I don’t know if this was intentional, but it looks like one of the girls left us a breadcrumb.”

He had found a hairclip, pink and with a rainbow and a cloud. Lorenzo held out his hand, still gritting his teeth, and the werewolf dropped the hair clip into his palm. 

“Let’s see,” Lorenzo muttered and cast a tracking spell. After a moment he smiled, but it was a smile you wouldn’t want to be the recipient of. He snapped his fingers again and opened a portal. “It looks as if the hunt isn’t over yet.”

Andrew and Isabelle exchanged a look and then a nod, and both of them followed Lorenzo into the portal, the others on their heels.


End file.
